Final Twilight
by Calli Maxwell
Summary: Just a cute little unconventional one-shot for dear Riku. I would call it a recollection of memories or a memoir of love and death, but that't not really it, so we'll just leave it to be decided...


**Hey People! My first Kingdom Hearts anything and of course it's for Riku! It's a bit unconventional, but I find it to be really cute So I hope you enjoy! Love it or Hate it, but always review!**

**Disclamer: All rights reserved to Kingdom Hearts and it's Creator who I do not know by name but am extremely grateful too! Selena belongs to me!**

_Riku lay in bed, his arms folded behind his head, with the thin blanket pulled up to his belly-button. His toned chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm as his lungs drew in sweet breaths of air, his turquoise eyes watching the female seated at the table. Silver hair fanned over the pillow, long bangs falling over his face to frame his strong jaw line, fluttering lightly as a deep sigh passed his rose-petal lips._

_"What are you still doing over there, Lena?" He asked, his deep, handsome voice setting her ivory cheek alight with a crimson blush. Selena turned her head to face him, a delicate smile on her lips, her pearl violet hair waving out behind her. Riku studied her in the moment it took her to answered, his lips curving into the tiniest smile, a pensive light in his eyes. She was small, a good two head shorter than her was, and delicately built, her porcelain skin giving her the look of a rare China doll. Her limbs were thin and friail, the blue vens vibrant under the near translucent skin. Wide eyes seemed dominate her facial features, the rich chocolate orbs bright and over-flowing with innocence much like that of a child's, but her slender, daintily pointed nose made for strong competition. The apples of her cheeks were round and soft, but always painted with a blush. Riku feared one day the ivory skin might remain that dark crimson shade. Although, whenever he found himself watching her like this, he came to the same conclusion. It was her smile that captivated him. The subtlenss of the chilidish dimples and the curve of her lips with their rich rose color. She titled her head to the side, her eyebrows knitted in confusion, ever wondering why he spent so much time staring at her. Riku shook his head and nodded, encouraging her to answer._

_"Kairi's birthday present! It's a shell necklace, see?" She grinned and held it up, twisting in the chair to hold it out for him to see. Riku smiled and a deep chuckled rumbled in his throat._

_"Beautiful." He commented and Selena blushed darkly, a soft but proud smile gracing her lips. She laughed, a sound like windchimes in a spring breeze, and returned to her work, threading a silver string through a tiny hole at the base of the next shell. It was a curled, soft blue one, with traces of purple and green threaded through it's twists and curves. She'd been working for almost two days now, using only the prettiest shells she found, discarding the less than perfect ones into a basket at her feet. Riku watched with and amused smile, listening to her sing quietly to herself. He closed his eyes, letting his body relax, completely at ease with the world._

_Perfection._

_"Do you think she'll like it?" Selena suddenly asked, holding the necklace up again and studying it, tilting her head left to right a few times before looking at Riku with big, curious eyes._

_"She'll love it." He assured her, smiling as she squealed happily and returned to work, humming away like before. Riku chuckled lightly, shaking his head and falling into a gentle sleep, stretching out over the bed. It wasn't long before he heard Selena moving around, a few things being drug across the floor, a couple things being rummaged through, and one thing being dropped. "Lena?"_

_"I need more shells." He cracked open an eye to find her slipping on a pair of shorts, which were hidden anyway under his shirt that she wore, seeing as it hung to her knees. She smiled and grabbed an empty basket that lay discarded by the stove and slipped it down her arm to rest at her elbow. "I'll be right back!"_

_"Where are you going?" He asked, sitting up and flinging the blanket from his body, cocking a curious eyebrow. Selena giggled and walked over, putting her pointer finger on his forehead._

_"The beach of course! Silly Riku!" She laughed and kissed his nose before skipping from the room and soon from the house. Riku listened as she desended the stairs, her footsteps lost once she hit the sand. Craning his neck to glance out the window, he reluctantly relaxed when he spotted her browsing the edge of the water for shells. Laying back down, he sighed heavily and strained his ears, listening for the slightest disturbance in the serenity that currently surrounded Destiny Island. Listening for anything that might hurt Selena. Worry clouded his mind, making it unable for him to fall back asleep, so he rose from the bed and shoved a hand through his silver hair. Riku stood and stretched, glancing out of the window again, just out of habit. His eyes went wide with fear, his heart stopping._

_"Selena!" He shouted, bolting from the house, pounding down the stairs and onto the beach. The sand tried in vain to slow his progress, but he plowed on through the white dunes, his heart racing with horror and fear. Selena lay in the sand just at the edge of the ocean, the crystal waves rolling in and out over her motionless body. "Selena!" He shouted her name again, dropping to his knees to pick her up, cradling her cold body against his chest. He pressed his ear to her chest, allowing himself a little sigh of relief, a pulse. He stood and raced back across the beach, murmering a prayer under his breath. The ocean glistened in the moonlight, a spilled basket of forgotten shells left in it's hungry clutches..._

"Oh...Sora, it's...wonderful!" Selena laughed, turning an oddly shapen wooden...thing around in her hands, her eyes studying carefully. Riku cracked a smile as she assured Sora over and over that she loved it, the brunette boy fussing unnecesessarily over her reaction. "Honest, I love it!"

"But you don't even know what it is!" Sora exclaimed and Selena paled, afriad she'd hurt his feelings and held up his gift to her.

"Of course I know what it is! It's a...a...wagon." She smiled and laughed nervously, but her answer had apparently not passified him.

"It's a birdhouse!" He threw his arms up in the air and made a strange noise between a groan and an exassperated sigh. Selena hung her head and blushed feverishly with embarrassment. Sora cracked open an eye and glanced at her, smiling brightly suddenly and embracing her tightly. "Aw, I was just kidding, Lena."

"So, it is a wagon?" She asked, a hopeful shimmer in her chocolate eyes. Sora laughed and shook his head.

"No, it's a birdhouse. I just wanted to give ya a hard time." He laughed and patted her head, smiling in trademark smile and stepping away as Kairi rushed over, her own gift to Selena tossed over her arm. She waved the boys away, shooing them like little chickens.

"Alright, enough, time for my present and it's a suprise, so go! Go, go, go!" Kairi herded Riku and Sora out before shutting the door. She even flipped the lock as to ensure that they wouldn't peek. Riku leaned against the wall across the hall and closed his eyes, while Sora bounced exitedly on the balls of his feet.

"You're gonna love Kairi's present for Lena." He assured Riku, grinning brightly at his silver-haried friend, and nodding enthusiastically. Riku ignored him for a moment before shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. Sora cocked a curious eyebrow, hands on his hips. "What?"

"Did you have to make her feel so bad?" Riku asked, his eyes open. the turquoise orbs shining with anger and annoyance. Sora's mouth opened and closed as he thought of something to say, slightly taken aback at his friends sudden anger.

"I was just playing with her. I was kidding. Why?" He asked, completely clueless as to what he'd done to recieve this kind of treatment. He knew Riku was protective of Selena, but he was onluy kidding around with her. What was the harm in that? Riku groaned, like he was exassperated with Sora's ignorance, and pushed away from the wall, taking a few steps before shoving his fingers through his bangs.

"You know it upsets her. That last thing she needs right now is to be upset!" Riku sneered and Sora stepped back, shock written all over his gentle features, his eyes wide. He hadn't mean to upset Riku, or Selena, he was just having some fun. He inwardly slapped himself, he should've forseen Riku's anger. Perhaps he hadn't thought things out well enough, but he did think Riku was blowing things a little out of proportion.

"Riku...I know you're worried about her..." He started, carefully choosing his words as to not upset him further. "But you can't treat her so helplessly! You can't be so protective of her that you end up forcing her into some kind of little bubble, what good would that do her? She's not going to break, Riku, have some faith in her." Sora stared into his friends eyes, slightly ashamed of having to say these things on Selena's birthday, but it was the truth. Riku would end of sufocating her, whether he realized he was doing it or not. Riku's hands clenched into fists and his eyes burned with anger. Thankfully, Kairi saved him acting at Sora's words.

"Okay! All done, come look." She instructed, guiding Riku back into Selena's room before silently shutting the door beind him, a small giggle escaping her lips. It took him a moment to realize what he suppose to be looking at. Selena. She was standing in the middle of the room, just in front of the window, the bright rays of sunlight giving her a heavenly hue. Kairi's present, a dress, hugged her body with flawless perfection. It was an exotic coral color, like some of the shells he was used to her bringing home, long and straight. It had two thin straps that rested on her small shoulders, a twist-front corset wrapped bodice, and a long flowing bottom. Her dark plum hair was down, framing her pale, thin face and her ghostly white skin reflected much of the color from the dress, giving it a peachy glow. Riku stared in amazement, trying to recall the last time he'd seen Selena like this. So bright, so beautiful, so...healthy. Not to sound vain, she was always beautiful to him, but this...this was...

"Do you like it?" She asked suddenly, her soft voice struggling to break the silence, as she started nervously at her feet, her entire body trembling. He found himself at a loss for words, awe-struck by her beauty and innocent, by how she left him breathless. He stepped foreward and embraced her, placing the lightest of kisses on her lips. She trembled under his touch, closing her eyes and leaning against him, her breaths quickening.

"Stunning." He whispered in her ear, tracing his fingers over her back, left revealed by the deep dip of the dress, feeling her shiver as he ran his fingers down the bumbs of her spine. She'd grown so skinny that they stuck out slightly, along with most other joints in her body, giving her a guant appearance. But Riku never noticed this, he only saw her beauty. "Breath-taking." He whispered again, running his lips down the curve of her neck, feeling her slow, but steady heartbeat throbbing in the vivid blue veins. "Exquisite." He continued whispering words of beauty to her, kissing and touching all the revealed skin, holding her tight against him. He wanted nothing more than to take her from this place, to take her back home, but he knew it would be the death of her. She was too sick, too dependent on the care, too fragile to risk anything.

"Riku..." He heard her whisper his name, her voice weak and soft, as she leaned more dependently against him, her arms slacking from around his neck. Riku picked her up, holding her against his chest, cradling her head against his shoulder. He walked her back over to her bed and stretched his body out over the crisp, white sheets, Selena laying ontop of him. He hadn't realized just how fragile she was, just how small, until he noticed the bruises forming on her arm. They were from him, where he'd had to tighten his grip on her as he sat down to keep her from falling. She was asleep, completely worn out, small coughs breaking her gentle slumber. The nurse would come soon, replacing all the cords and wires that kept her illness at bay, normaly asking him to leave.

_Not tonight_, he thought to himself, his throat constricted as he watched her chest struggle to rise, fighting for every breath, _tonight I'm staying with you, Lena._ He silently promised her, absently thinking about how it'd taken only 7 minutes for her to become this bad, to be fighting so hard, when 15 minutes ago she'd been fine, laughing with Kairi and Sora. As he anticipated, the nurses came, complaining over this and fussing over that, but Riku refused to be moved. They finally caved, but only after they won the argument of changing her clothes. They replaced her sleeping gown and hung the dress on a hanger by the door. After they left, Riku carefully maneuvered himself into a more comfortable postion, taking extra care not to jar Selena, slipping off his jacket and shoes. The sun was beginning to set, fading into twilight, as he stroked her hair, singing to her in a low voice, the faint beat of her heart echoed in his ears. He listened and listened and strained to hear as it grew fainter...and fainter...until finally...

...slipping away.

**60 Years Later**

Riku couldn't recall the last time he'd stood by the ocean like this, looking out over the miles of glistening blue water, just admiring the beauty of it all. _It's been to long_, he thought to himself, _that's for sure._ At 77 years old, he realized that most of his life had slipped by him, falling into a dark abyss where they could never be retrieved. It was long ago he promised to himself to start appreciating his gift, his life.

_Hehe, silly Riku!_

Her voice was always in his head, echoed by the faint warmth he felt in his chest everytime she spoke. At first, he hadn't known what happened the night she died, but -of all people- Sora had been the one to explain. Selena was like Kairi, her heart so pure it couldn't become a heartless, so instead of disappearing, it was aborsed in a sense with Riku's own heart. At first, Riku had argued this fact, saying that his heart was too dark to ever hold a heart like Selena's. Surely her's was too pure to ever dwell alongside his soul. Sora did his best to convince him, but it was Kairi finally did.

"Her heart is with yours because that's where it belongs. Together, they form the purest of hearts, one mended with light from death and filled to the brim love."

Her words, spoken from the depth of her own pure heart, convinced him to believe in Sora's story. Apart, their hearts were polar opposites; one dark and shadowed, filled with anger and solitude and the other light and innocent, glowing with happiness and peace. Together, their hearts were...perfect, each bringing to the other the peices it was missing.

_Look at all the shells, Riku! Aren't they pretty?_

Riku looked down and was only half suprised to find a dozen scattered shells surrounding his feet, sparkling in the sunlight. He bent down, wincing as his knees cracked and groaned in protest and plucked one from the sand, cradling it in his palm. It was a rich plum color, specked with dots of pink and blue, curved into the shape of a heart. Riku stood and held it out, watching it glisten as the sun began to set, making way for twilight to arrive. A single crystal tear slid down his cheek, fire-working in the sand below as Riku watched the stars begin to appear. Years had passed and his heart still ached when he thought of her, but he realized now how it was always comforted by a warmth he couldn't explain. A light that fought the pain away and convinced his own heart to shine and dance along with it. With a heavy groan, Riku settled himself into the sand, his old bones cracking and creaking, silver hair spilling over his shoulders.

"Any minute now..." He whispered, holding the little purple heart in his hand and watching the sun slowly dip below the horizen. He looked out with old, tired eyes, a gentle smile making it's way across his lips as he started to hum to himself, accompanied by a great swell of warmth in his chest.

"Yes, any minute now..." He murmered, laying back in the warm sand, his heavy eyes falling shut, a deep breath escaping his lips. Riku smiled, letting his mind wonder to her and to their memories from so long ago. To Sora and Kairi. To her smile. To her lips. To her eyes. He let it wonder to everything as he patiently awaited this final twilight.

_I can't wait to see you! I love you so much!_


End file.
